Once Upon a Time…

                        The only son of a King and his Queen was cursed,

                        His fate sealed by the cruel hand of a dark fairy.

                        When the Prince grew to the ripened age of sixteen,

                        On a rusted spindle would his finger prick.

                        Into death would he slip that day,

                        No hope of salvation growing on the horizon.

                        When the wicked fairy disappeared from sight,

                        A fairy of pure heart bestowed the Prince with her gift.

                        When the spindle pierces the Prince’s flesh,

                        It shall not be into death the Prince shall slip.

                        In the growing shadows of the night shall he fall,

                        Locked in a sleep none but his true love can break.

                        Sixteen years had come with the break of dawn,

                        And true to the curse had the Prince fallen prey.

                        Into a dreamless sleep did the Prince descend,

                        The kingdom fell with their heir.

                        The years came on the wings of birds,

                        The years left upon the breathe of winter.

            `           A wall of thorns grew around the sleeping castle,

                        Creating an impenetrable force no one could break.

                        When once upon a day in June,

                        A Princess arrived with her Page Boy.

                        At the foot of the bristled vines the pair stood,

                        Both planned how their story should end.

                        The Princess would kiss the Prince and wake him,

                        Her noble hand he would take in his own.

                        The Page Boy handed to the Princess her blade,

                        Shimmering and glimmering in the sun’s rays.

                        Slicing her path into the wall of vines and leaves,

                        At last the impregnable walls had been breached.

                        Through the thorns the pair stepped proudly,

                        Beyond the gate sat a courtyard dark and silent.

                        The Princess and the Page Boy crossed to a large column,

                        The tower was a tall and dark slumbering tomb.

                        Each stair brought them a step closer to their victory,

                        Twisting and winding to the hushed chamber of the Prince.

                        There he lay, untouched by the twisted hands of time,

                        His face unchanged as the day he fell asleep.

                        With confidence the Princess stepped from the doorway,

                        Knowing her trials were done and her quest was won.

                        At last the moment of her destiny had come,

                        With bended knee the Princess bestowed upon the Prince a kiss.

                        The Prince lay still, unchanged by the Princess’ embrace,

                        The dreams of dark tightly entwined within.

                        With no hope of waking her Prince from his living death,

                        The Princess retreated from the chamber and down the stair.

                        Standing silent and unmoving near the Prince’s bedside,

                        The Page Boy watched the Prince with starlit eyes.

                        He gifted the sleeping Prince with a kiss,

                        Wishing he could have been the hero of this story.

                        As he turned to the door and began to walk,

                        A sense of hope commanded him to stay.

                        Turning back to face the sleeping Prince,

                        The Page Boy was gifted a magical sight.

                        On the bed where once a sleeping Prince lay,

                        Lay now a Prince returned of his glow and light.

                        When the eyes of the young Prince fluttered open,

                        He saw for the first time the face of his true love.

                        The Prince spoke for the first time in a century,

                        A voice no longer silenced by the dark.

                        Granting the Prince his gentle wish,

                        The Page Boy embraced the Prince with another kiss.

                        Around the young couple the room glowed,

                        The long silent castle chamber’s glimmering back to life.

                        Together they descended the winding tower steps,

                        The light of Heaven’s stars aglow in their eyes.

                        A great feast was announced to all in the land,

                        The Prince had been awoken from his cursed sleep.

                        The young Prince had found the one to take his hand,

To dance with, to sing with, to live with

Happily Ever After